My First Half: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Pilgrim Pacer 11/10/2012 Distance: 13.1 Goal: Under 2 hours 15 Minutes (A little over a 10 minute pace) Which I felt was do able as I had done 10 mile runs at a 10 minute pace a few times. What was an extra 3.1 miles at that pace....ha.......ha.....HA.

This is me.  Before the race. Full of hope and confidence.

The Good: Evidently I am a fan of trail runs over "road runs".  I loved the scenery.  Something about just getting out and running around in the woods makes one feel so peaceful.  I loved the view of the lake.  The trees were beautiful.  And it wasn't cold.  I finished and I finished strong.  I never once wanted to give up and I just kept on keeping on.  Sometimes you just have to drop down to a low gear and go slow and steady to finish a race.  And this was one of those races where I had to slow down and pace myself a little slower than I would have liked.  The first 6-10 miles ish were money.  I think I could probably do very well with a 10K. But things started to get difficult the last 3 miles.....

The Bad:  I didn't meet my goal.  It was windy has hell.  We are talking 15-25 mph straight on.  It felt like I was running with a resistance band pulling me backward..the entire time.    This was definitely a new challenge for me.  The first mile I had a side cramp that eventually subsided.  My spandex bottoms were actually a little too big on me, so I was concerned about flashing my sexy panties to the nice people behind me, but after awhile you just don't care anymore.  I don't want to use any of this as an excuse to why I didn't meet my goal.  I didn't meet my goal because I didn't train hard enough.  Period end of story.  But am I still proud?  Hell ya.

The Ugly:  I have a heart rate monitor I wear when I run for multiple reasons.  One of which is that I like to see what type of calories I am burning, and the other is to obviously see where my heart rate is. Usually, when I am running distance runs at about a 6 mph speed my heart rate hovers around 149-155.  For whatever reason my heart rate started and stayed in the 170's-179.  I am not sure if it was the wind resistance, the hills, or what.  The other thing, which I did to myself....the day before I consumed less calories than I burned in the race.  You do the math.  that was not a very smooth move on my part.  Basic running rules tells you , fuel your body.  Period.  That is very basic and I blew that. Plus, I don't hydrate well (ever) and didn't bring a mid run snack to keep my energy up.  Lesson learned.  And lastly, I was warned.  Every runner that I told I was running the Pilgrim Pacer gave me a crazy look and asked me if I knew about the hills.  Which I did, but I think I was over estimating my abilities.  They.are.brutal.  About the last 3 miles are all up hill and the last 1/2 mile is just one steep hill that makes you want to die.  One poor girl behind me lost it and started sobbing.  My heart broke for her--but it motivated me to move a little faster because, being a woman, something like that starts to get in my head.  Oh and my phone died around mile 10.  So no music.  That sucked too.  

So there you have it.  That was my first 1/2 marathon experience.  Overall, I am proud.  I earned my 13.1 sticker on the back of my car.  And now a new season begins as I will look forward to new goals.  I have my sights on the KC 1/2 marathon next year.  That gives me a while to get my head on and train correctly this time.  My goal for that is under 2 hours.  

Last excuse to make me feel better.  I paced myself with this one woman who looked like she knew what she was doing.  At the end of the race she approached me and asked if my legs were cramping (hell yes) and she said she could tell by my form towards the end of the race.  We got to talking and she has done SEVERAL 1/2 marathons and full marathons and she said today, and this race was the hardest she had ever encountered--so to not beat myself up over not meeting my goal.  That helped a little but it still stings a little.  

Finishing, yes--that is a smile on my face.  

Zoo Run Here I Come...

I loved...loved...loved the kc zoo run.  It was a blast.  The quickest feeling 4 miles.  There was so much to see and it just made the run very enjoyable.  So when Ian and I were planning our family get a way to Omaha, I couldn't help but hope for a zoo run there too.  It just so happened that there IS a zoo run on the exact day we planned on going!  It was ment to be.

I am officially registered.  I put it off and missed the date for the free t-shirt, but I am registered and will even be able to get my official time.  This one is a 5 miler which I am thinking is a good thing because I am sure there will be some vacation eating I will need to run off. 

We have a bunch of really cool stuff planned and I am so looking forward to getting away for a bit and having someone else make my bed for me (my favorite thing about a hotel...that and the fresh towels). 

Unfortunately my training schedule is shot for the next two weeks but I will do what I can when I can.  I thought I would get up early and run today but I put sweat pants over my ninja compression pants thus my sweat pants continued to try to slide down my legs. I didn't feel like running 6 miles with my hand holding up my pants.   

I am super thankful for my cold weather gear though.  I got some Under Armor tactical gear that really does the trick.  A girl at the gym told me I look like a professional runner.  I thought I looked like a ninja but ill take it.
However, sweat pants over the compression pants....doesn't work.  Lesson learned.   

Tiblow Trot 2012

*Here is the breakdown:

Distance: 5 Miles
Difficulty: "This is a challenging, accurately measured 5-mile course that includes major hills. "
Weather Conditions: 70's, 70% humidity, light rain
Finishing Time: 50:33 (goal was less than 60 minutes)
Number of Untied Shoes: 3

Last night, I thought to myself how I was not looking forward to this run.  Last week didn't go how I wanted and my last week of training had been kinda, meh.  The entire week I had a bit of a bad attitude, and wasn't expecting much.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I woke up tired as ever.  I ended up stopping at the gas station for a "5 Hour Energy".  I had never had one before, and figured I would give it a shot to help me survive.  I don't know if it was that or the event that woke me up, but by the time I was hitting the starting line--I felt awake and ready to go (but no nasty side effects).

My cousin and I stuck together throughout the entire race.  That was helpful because it pushed me to stay the course when I would have otherwise wimped out to a slower speed.

The first 1.5 miles is basically flat.  It was easy to start out at a nice cruising speed.  We clipped along at a 10 minute mile pace that felt good.  Easy.  The first hill was probably one of the worst, I think we lost the most amount of time on that hill, but evidently made up time later in the course.

What is totally messing with my head is the fact that last week, the 5K was a little tough for me.  I finished at about the same pace I ran a hilly 5 miles in.  Maybe I put too much pressure on myself last week, but I was dying by the time I reached the finish line.  Today, felt good.  Solid.  I was pleased with the effort.  I didn't over do it where it would loose the enjoyment, but worked hard enough that I accomplished something.

Once we got in the middle of the hills, there was no going back.  We were maintaining an awesome speed and there was no way either of us were going to let that slip away.  It was solid.

My next race isn't suppose to be until September but I am already wanting to sneak in another something something before that.

Pictures and official time coming soon.

Rivalry Run 2012--30:02

First off, just a heads up that I updated both the "Races" page and the "Pictures" page.  Check it out.

I never realized how beautiful Kansas City, Mo is until today.  It was an absolutely beautiful morning for a 5K.  It was a beautiful drive, watching the sunrise and shine on all the architecture works around the city.  I don't frequent the area much, and I am glad this experience is expanding my horizons.

I got there early, because I wan't sure about parking.  I ended up finding a parking lot just a few hundred yards from the starting line and figured it was worth the 5 bucks to park there.  In future races, I have decided it is not necessary to get there so early.  I don't care for the standing around and awkward conversations with strangers.  

The race started at 8 a.m. on the dot.  I appreciate punctuality.  I decided to hang to the back of the crowd and hope that mob would stretch out a bit by the time I hit the start line so I could then weave between people easier.  Seemed like this strategy worked well for me.  

After about 4:00 minute I had already gone .5 miles (so on pace for an 8 minute mile).  And of course, I notice my shoe came untied.  I decided that I was already ahead of schedule and 2.6 miles was a long time to run with an untied shoe.  So I slipped over to the side and tried to tie it quickly and catch up.  No harm-no foul.  I settled back into my pace (around 9 minute miles), and a half mile down the road, my OTHER shoe came untied.  At this point, I was super annoyed with myself because I do this every time I run and I should know better by now.  Overall, I ended up stopping to tie my shoe 3 times.  I didn't realize just how frustrated I would be with this fact until I got my time card.

And so the race continued.  The first stretch was mostly down hill.  Subtly--it was nice and very easy.  Then at about the 1 mile mark was a steady uphill climb.  My pace dropped at that point.  It is mentally hard to see people stop and walk, yet maintain my same pace.  I was able to push through.  I knew I had lost a bit of time from the shoe ordeal and then lost time going up the hill.  By the time I was down to the last .75 to .8 mile, I knew I was going to be sub 32 but I was really really pushing my sub 30 goal.

When I hit the 3 mile marker (.1 left), my brain started to shut down.  For some reason, I wanted to stop and walk so bad.  I slowed my pace down to the slowest it had been all race.  Then when I realized I still had a shot at my goal, I tried to sprint out the last little bit (never a good idea, I know..injury..blah blah blah).  I honestly thought I had made it.  According to my GPS and stop watch it was 3.17 miles at a 9:37 pace, which would have been 29:57--but my official chip time was 30:02.  TWO seconds.  TWO stupid seconds.  

Next time, I am going to double check my shoes.